SIT to probe ‘kidney scam’Directed to submit report within 45 days
Mohali, January 5
A special investigation team (SIT) under the Superintendent of Police (Detective), Mohali, has been constituted to go deep into the facts of the kidney scam that was recently busted by the Lucknow police and verify the credentials of the documents on the basis of which 227 kidney transplants of unrelated and related cases from outside the state were carried out at two local hospitals, Surya Kidney Centre, Sector 69, and Silver Oaks Hospital, Sector 63.

3 police post in charge suspended
Chandigarh, January 5
Three UT Sub-Inspectors (SIs), posted as police post in charge, were suspended after they were found absent from their respective locations during a drive to check police vigilance in the wake of the rising cases of snatching and theft here today. Senior police officials suspended them during a surprise check.

Cold Comfort: Children leave for school in dense fog at Sector 56, Chandigarh, on Thursday. Tribune photo: Vicky Gharu

Faux pas leaves CBI red in the facePulled up for applying wrong Section in corruption case
Chandigarh, January 5
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was left red-faced today when special CBI Judge Ritu Tagore pulled up its officials for arresting an accused when the specific charges did not even apply to him.

Former councillor Arshad Khan dead
Chandigarh, January 5
Thirtyseven-year-old Arshad Khan, former nominated councillor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, died of a cardiac arrest here today. He was the first nominated councillor in the history of the corporation and was given ticket by the Congress to contest from Ward No. 26 in the elections held recently.

2 watchmen found murdered
Panchkula, January 5
Two watchmen of a company involved in installing high-tension electricity wire towers were found murdered in the fields of Khatauli village, near here, today. The deceased have been identified as Mujib-ur-Rehman (19) and his brother-in-law Ansur Ali (55), both from West Bengal.

A dog squad inspects the spot where the bodies of two watchmen were found at Khatauli village in Barwala, Panchkula, on Thursday. Tribune photo: Nitin Mittal

UT Adviser marks inquiry into fuel scam16,000-lt fuel worth Rs 8.91 lakh ‘went missing’ from CITCO
station
Chandigarh, January 5
UT Adviser KK Sharma today marked an inquiry into the siphoning off more than 16,000 litre of fuel, worth Rs 8.91
lakh, from the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation (CITCO)-run petrol station in Sector 9, here today.
Sharma said he had ordered a time-bound vigilance inquiry into the case.

20 HVAC buses plying on short routes Ordinary CTU buses for long distances, courtesy UT Admn
Chandigarh, January 5
The Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU), despite having 20 heating-ventilation and air-conditioned (HVAC) buses purchased a year ago especially for long routes, is using ordinary non-AC buses to ferry passengers on long routes.
Interestingly, HVAC buses are run on short distances, including Ambala, Baddi and Kalka, incurring losses worth
lakhs.

Road Safety Week, but rules not enforced: A zebra crossing blocked by vehicles near the traffic lights on the road separating Sectors 22 and 23, causing problems to pedestrians, in Chandigarh
on Thursday. Tribune Photo: Pradeep Tewari

Time for a break2 top officials on leave, 2 to follow suit
Chandigarh, January 5
It is ‘chhutti’ time for UT ‘babus’. While CITCO Managing Director DK Tiwari and UT Deputy Commissioner Brijendra Singh have already gone on leave, UT Social Welfare Director Varsha Khangwal and UT Information Technology Director Yogesh Kumar will go on leave shortly.
Tiwari, who has been holding seven departments, went to Dubai for eight days on holiday from today. He would rejoin on January 12.

UT villages go to the polls on Jan 21 Elections to zila parishad and panchayat
samiti
Chandigarh, January 5
Elections for nine zila parishad constituencies and 15 panchayat samiti constituencies in the city will be held on January 21.
With this announcement, the model code of conduct has come into effect. This time, both elections will be held simultaneously, with approximately 32,941 voters casting their vote.

Chandigarh scan
Medical camp
Girls were provided free medical check-up and free medicines at a medical check-up camp organised by the Fortis Hospital at Dhanas on Thursday. The camp, which was only for girls in the age group of 5 to 14 years, was organised in association with the Salaam Zindagi Charitable Trust to celebrate ‘Nanhi Chhaan Day’. The camp was conducted by a team of doctors and nurses led by Dr Pooja Gupta and Dr. Shilpa
Priyadarshini.

PU to carry out physico-chemical analysis of Sukhna Lake
Chandigarh, January 5
To tide over problems such as silting, depleting water table and water contamination at Sukhna Lake, the UT administration has given the project to Panjab University
(PU) to carry out a ‘physico-chemical analysis’ (water tests) of the lake. Earlier, the project was given to the National Botanical Research Institute
(NBRI), Lucknow, but recently the institute pulled back from the project.

Remains of activity an eyesore

Plastic cups and plates thrown in the pond near the student centre at Panjab University in Chandigarh on Thursday. Tribune Photo: Pradeep Tewari

Stray dog menace
Mohali MC to go for dog sterlisation in a big way
Mohali, January 5
The Municipal Council is planning to check the menace of stray dogs by going in for sterlisation in a big way and also asking higher authorities to provide additional staff and a cattle-catcher van.

Punjab polls
No candidate files nomination papers on day 1
Mohali, January 5
On the first day of filing nomination papers in connection with the Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections scheduled to be held on January 30, no candidate filed any document in the SAS Nagar, Kharar and Dera Bassi Assembly constituencies here today.

MC raring to goRose Festival from Feb 24
Chandigarh, January 5
The municipal corporation (MC) is all set to organise the Rose Festival for
the first time after its transfer from the UT Administration. In a meeting chaired by MC Commissioner Prerna
Puri, it was suggested that Mr and Ms Rose be introduced in the fest. The festival would be held from February 24 to 26.

New e-sampark centres in city hanging fire
Chandigarh, January 5
The project of 10 new e-sampark centres across the city has got delayed, thanks to the lackadaisical attitude of officials concerned.
Under the project, envisaged in August past year, the administration has to construct e-sampark centres at Sectors 7, 21, 27, 32, 34, 38 (West), 45, 48 and 51 and Modern Housing Complex, Mani Majra.

CTU to start service to Rajasthan towns
Chandigarh, January 5
In a bid to have better connectivity and to promote tourism, the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) will start service to Alwar, Jaipur and Ajmer soon.
The CTU is all set to enter into an agreement with the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (RSRTC), which will start service from tourist towns in Rajasthan to Chandigarh. In a recent meeting between the CTU and the Rajasthan corporation, both have decided to enter into an agreement and run inter-state buses.

MC elections
Candidates yet to submit poll expenditure
Chandigarh, January 5
Out of the 152 contesting candidates, only a few have submitted their election expenditure so far.
Though the contesting candidates have to file the election expenditure within 15 days after the announcement of the poll results, a number of them have not bothered to submit the details to returning officer.

Making residents aware of traffic rules
Zirakpur, January 5
The Zirakpur traffic police today organised an awareness camp during the traffic awareness week. Giving information about the traffic, Surinderjit Kaur, DSP(traffic), Mohali, stated that to spread awareness among people, the department had started the road safety week.

21 cobblers get lucky
Zirakpur, January 5
Mesmerised by Gurdas Mann’s hit album “Boot
Polishan”, a dhabha owner on the Chandigarh-Ambala National Highway in Zirakpur yesterday, honoured 21 cobblers. He not only gave them a dafli (drum) but also honoured them with some cash.

Nursery admissions on Education dept has parents, schools confused
Chandigarh, January 5
Unable to devise a convincing middle path between draw of lots and the point system, the UT education department has resumed nursery admissions on a note that has left both parents and schools confused.

Protest for PU mess workers
Chandigarh, January 5
The All-India Central Council of Trade Unions organised a protest at Panjab University
(PU) here today, demanding extension of labour laws to PU mess workers. They claimed that the workers were being forced to work for 16 hours rather than the prescribed eight hours and were not being given DC rates.
Council president Kanwaljeet Singh said, “We just want justified wages and working conditions for mess workers, who do not even appear on the university’s priority list.”

Panjab University mess workers protest for minimum wages on the campus in Chandigarh on Thursday. Tribune Photo: Pradeep Tewari

Encroachers have a field day in AmbalaMovement of traffic at times becomes next to impossible
Ambala, January 5
Encroachers have a field day in Ambala, as narrow and congested streets in Ambala Cantt have become blocked arteries where movement of traffic is hazardous.
Woes of the pedestrians are compounded by haphazard parking of vehicles in the absence of proper parking places. The parking problem is very acute in the Sadar Bazaar area, the posh shopping market of the town.

Fog disrupts air, rail traffic in regionTrains running late
Chandigarh, January 5
The dense fog in the region led to the cancellation of all flights from the city airport for the second consecutive day today, many trains were running late from their schedule.

PSU takes our rally, demands actionThrashing of IIT students
Patiala, January 5
The Punjab Students Union organised a rally at Government ITI, Patiala, against the thrashing of three ITI students by outsiders on January 30. A large number of students gathered at the institute and raised slogans against the ITI authorities and district administration stating that they were not taking necessary action against the culprits.

Banur police arrests proclaimed offender
Banur, January 5
The Banur police has arrested a proclaimed offender in connection with a fraud case. Police officials said that Neelam Sharam, wife of Anish Kumar of Jandli, Ambala city, was arrested by the police near Ambala.

Farmers block railway traffic
Dera Bassi, January 5
Following the state-level call of the Bhartiya Kissan Union, Lakhowal, farmers of Mohali District blocked the railway traffic in favour of their demands at Dappar railway station. Nearly six trains were affected due to the dharna of farmers. Two trains were diverted and three were cancelled due to the dharna of farmers at Dappar railway station.

Spice Retail Ltd penalised Rs 20,000
Chandigarh, January 5
The District Consumer and Dispute Redressal, Forum-I, has imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Spice Retail Ltd for its failure to replace a mobile phone worth Rs 20,000 of a Sector-33 resident.
The complainant, Shubham Garg, submitted that he purchased a Blackberry (model 8900) handset for Rs 20,209 on April 5, 2010, besides paying Rs 1,699 towards the extended warranty for two years till April 4, 2012, from the opposite party.

Case against Saji Mohan
Chandigarh, January 5
In the drug pilferage case against former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Director Saji Mohan, a local court here today recorded the statement of the investigation officer in that case.

2 held for cheating
Chandigarh, January 5
The economic offences wing of the Chandigarh Police today arrested two persons in a case of cheating and forgery. Harjinder Singh, a resident of Sector 30, and Deepak Kumar, a Mohali resident, were nabbed for duping a city resident of Rs 12 lakh on the pretext of arranging a flat.

Burglars decamp with goods worth Rs 1 lakh
Panchkula, January 5
Burglars took away goods and valuables worth over Rs one lakh from a house in Sector 12 here today. The owner of the house, Lalit Kumar, along with the family has gone abroad.The watchman at the house had gone to see one of his friends last evening, taking advantage the thieves broke into the house and took away goods worth Rs One
lakh.

Cricket meet
Punjab in strong position
Chandigarh, January 5
After taking three wickets on the second day’s play, Punjab’s pace bowler Baltej Singh disturbed Delhi’s batsmen and completed a five-wicket haul on the third day of ongoing Col CK Nayudu Trophy cricket final for boys (U-22), being held at Feroze Shah Kotla ground, Delhi.

Vivek High Asian Cricket Academy win by 41 runs
Chandigarh, January 5
The team of Vivek High Asian Cricket Academy defeated MCA XI, Mohali, by 41 runs
during the fourth Vivek Trophy Cricket Tournament being held here today.
The winning side set a target of 181 runs in the allotted slot, with Shivam Bhambri contributing most of the runs and fell short of one run to complete his half-century. He was equally supported by Anirudh, who scored 44 runs.

Saupin’s, Millennium School script wins
Chandigarh, January 5
The teams of Saupin’s School, Sector 32, and Millennium School, Mohali, registered wins in their respective matches during the first Saupin's League Cricket Competition being held here today.

In the first match, Millennium School defeated
LIC, Sector 26, by 49 runs. Bowling first, the LIC team restricted the rivals to 101 runs in 20
overs.

Players in action during the Saupin's League Cricket Competition at Sector 48 in Chandigarh. Tribune photo: Parvesh Chauhan

School games
2,200 players to vie for top honours
Chandigarh, January 5
The UT education department will organise the 57th National School Games from January 6 to 11, here.
Events like cricket, handball, dodgeball, fencing and choi-kwang-do will be held in boys (U-16, boys and girls (U-19), U-14, U-17 and U-19 categories.

Honing skills: A handball coach gives tips to players during a camp at Sector 19 in Chandigarh on Thursday. Tribune photo: Pradeep Tewari

Volleyball tourney
Himachal, UP to clash for title
Chandigarh, January 5
The volleyball team of Audit General, Himachal Pradesh, will lock horns with Audit General, Uttar Pradesh, in the final of North Zone Indian Audit and Accounts Department (IA&AD) Volleyball Championship being played at the sports complex, Sector 46, tomorrow.

Kabaddi trials
Chandigarh , January 5
The sports department, Chandigarh administration, will conduct trials to select the city civil services kabaddi team at the sports complex, Sector 42, on January 9, here.